Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Former DEA Officials Urge Repeal Of 2016 Law That Stripped Agency Of Its Most Potent Weapon

“This bill basically tore the heart out of the diversion program,” one official told senators Tuesday. In other opioid-related news, members of Congress meet in Baltimore to gauge the scope of the opioid epidemic, questions arise over the growing profession of opioid recovery coaches and more.

The Washington Post:
Former DEA Officials Call For Repeal Of Law That Weakened Enforcement
Three former Drug Enforcement Administration officials urged Democratic lawmakers Tuesday to repeal a 2016 law that effectively took away the agency’s most potent weapon against distributors and manufacturers of prescription opioids. The trio said the authority to instantly freeze shipments of powerful painkillers was the DEA’s most effective tool against giant companies that ignored legal requirements to report suspicious orders of the pills by pharmacies, doctors and others who diverted them for illegal use. Those “immediate suspension orders” not only protected the public from the most egregious abuse but deterred other companies as well, they said at a session held by Senate Democrats. (Bernstein and Higham, 11/28)

The Baltimore Sun:
U.S. House Panel Convenes In Baltimore To Assess Opioid Epidemic
At a congressional field hearing on opioids held Tuesday in Baltimore, Republicans, Democrats and health care officials agreed about the scope of the problem, but there appeared to be little agreement about who should do what. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee came to Baltimore, where opioids have been a particular scourge, at the behest of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, its ranking Democrat. (Cohn, 11/28)

Georgia Health News:
New U.S. Attorney Targeting Opioid Crisis
The illegal use of prescription painkillers is decreasing, but heroin and synthetic fentanyl have grown in popularity among drug users here, says the new U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. ...very day, 91 Americans die from opioid overdoses. (Miller, 11/28)